MMA’s Most Vicious Knockout Artists –  Ranking the Best 5 KO Specialists Of All Time 

MMA itself is one of the most entertaining sports across the globe, but the most exhilarating part about this brutal game is the knockout finishes. Fighters can knock out their opponents using hands, elbows, or knees, and sometimes they’ll even slam them on their heads. 

In the following segment, I’ll provide a detailed review of the top 5 knockout artists in the history of mixed martial artists. 

Keep reading, and find out who the most vicious knockout finishers are in MMA!

#5 – Mirko “Cro Cop” (38W – 11L)

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was one of the most brutal knockout artists in MMA history. He was a successful kickboxer who decided to go into mixed martial arts and became a fighting legend. The famous phrase for which Mirko was known was “right leg hospital, left leg cemetery” because of his hard leg kicks. He fought for famous organizations like UFC, Dream, and Rizin, but he was at the peak of his abilities while fighting in Pride and became the champ in that promotion.  

This Croatian heavyweight beat many successful MMA fighters like Josh Barnett, Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Igor Vovchanchyn, and others. Throughout his illustrious career, he recorded 30 KO wins. 

After fighting for two decades, Cro Cop decided to retire in 2019. 

#4 – Melvin Manhoef (32W – 17L)

Coming from the Netherlands, Melvin Manhoef was one of the most vicious strikers who fought in mixed martial arts. Even though he may not be the most popular, he is still statistically one of the best in the business.  Nicknamed “No Mercy,” Manhoef was truly merciless towards his opponents, given that from 32 wins in total, 29 of them came via knockout. 

This Dutch light heavyweight has fought in numerous major like DREAM, One, Bellator, Strikeforce, and KSW. Even though he didn’t win a title in those big fighting organizations, he did in some less popular ones. He won the light heavyweight championship title in the British Promotion Cage Rage. 

In his prime, Melvin Manhoef was virtually unstoppable, beating the likes of Mark Hunt, Crosley Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Denis Kang, and many others. 

In 2022, at the age of 46, Manhoef retired as a Bellator fighter. 

#3 – Wanderlei Silva (35W – 14L)

Known as the “Axe Murderer,” Wanderlei Silva is probably one of the most ruthless finishers ever in MMA. Before transitioning into MMA, Wanderlei was also an elite kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter.  This Brazilian middleweight fought in famous fighting promotions like UFC and Pride, but his best fighting days were when he fought at Pride, where he won two Middleweight championship titles. 

Wanderlei’s resume is more than impressive since he beat some big names in the MMA world, like Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Quinton Jackson, and Michael Bisping. His opponents often didn’t last for more than one round since his finishing skills were otherworldly. He recorded 35 wins while fighting in MMA, and 27 of those wins were via a knockout or a TKO.

Wanderlei decided to end his MMA career back in 2018 while fighting for Bellator promotion.  

#2 – Chuck Liddell  (21W – 9L) 

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell was one of the last old-school fighters in the MMA world. Back when MMA was a new sport, in the 90s and 2000s, fighters relied on grappling and jiujitsu, and Liddell was one of the first fighters who used kickboxing as his main weapon. Liddell fought in the light heavyweight division and was one of the most dangerous knockout artists at his peak. He fought at Pride and in the UFC, where he won the light heavyweight championship. 

Even though Liddell finished his career with a 21-9 record, he was at his prime, when his record was 20-3. 13 of those 20 wins came from either TKO or KO. In his career, he fought and beat the likes of MMA legends like Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Alistair Overeem, Vitor Belfort, and Kevin Randleman. 

He retired at the age of 49, fighting for Golden Boy MMA promotion. 

#1 – Anderson Silva (34W – 11L)

Undeniably, the greatest MMA striker the world has ever seen is Anderson “The Spider” Silva. His one-of-a-kind striking style was the reason why he was able to pull off some of the most impressive KO wins ever. 

Silva was a sharp striker who could KO his opponent in the blink of an eye. Silva fought at middleweight as well as the light heavyweight division, and he was UFC’s middleweight reigning champion for 2,457 days, which is the longest reign ever in UFC’s history. 

In his MMA career, Anderson has beaten numerous well-known MMA fighters like Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, and many others. In 34 career wins, he managed to finish 23 fights via KO or TKO, which is more than impressive. 

One of the greatest fighters of all time, Anderson Silva, retired in 2020 as a UFC fighter. 

*featured image taken from YouTube.